http://imagej.273.s1.nabble.com/Threats-on-Mac-OSX-Java-tp3685971p3685974.html
Just to keep the list informed: it seems that we will have a happy ending !
> Hi Michael & Christophe,
>
> I'm an ImageJ developer and for some time been concerned about Apple's
> > apparent lack of commitment to Java (no support for iPhone or iPad) and
> > Oracle's acquisition of Sun.
> >
>
> I agree that the lack of Java on iPhone and iPad is unfortunate. However, I
> believe it is premature to worry about Java's future. As others have
> pointed
> out, Oracle seems generally committed to Java's future.
>
> Anyone know if there are any for 3rd party JVMs planned for Apple OS-X?
> >
>
> Yep, OpenJDK 7 (if that counts as 3rd party) works on Mac OS X. And after
> this news about Apple discontinuing direct Java support, I'm guessing we'll
> see a push from the community to make it work really well.
>
> Anyone know what are the alternatives to Java easy cross platform
> > development?
> >
>
> For desktop applications, the main alternatives I have seen are Python
> (easy), C++ (fast), or a combination of the two (can be both!). For
> example,
> CellProfiler 2.0 is written in Python and makes use of standard native
> libraries such as NumPy and SciPy for fast numerical processing.
>
> For web applications (which are often cross-platform, of course) there are
> many more choices, including Python, Ruby, AJAX, PHP, Flex, Perl... the
> list
> goes on.
>
> Anyone know what Oracle's commitment to Java is?
> >
>
> It is worth noting that Python and Ruby have gotten extremely popular
> entirely without corporate sponsorship (as far as I know), and follow open
> source design principles. Now that Java is open source as well, and already
> extremely popular (see
http://www.langpop.com/ for some statistics), it
> seems unlikely that Oracle could kill Java even if it tried. More likely is
> that Java will eventually be outcompeted by some other language, but I
> think
> that is many years in coming.
>
> Anyone know about the intentions for ImageJ (or what ever may replace it)
> > should Java go poof in a cloud of roasted coffee bean scented smoke?
> >
>
> Hypothetically, we could reimplement ImageJ using one of the options listed
> above. But realistically it just won't happen. Even if there was some huge
> patent scandal surrounding Java that no one saw coming, most likely someone
> would just receive a big settlement from someone else and Java development
> would continue. There is simply too much enterprise code depending on it
> for
> it to be otherwise. If you don't believe me, think back to the Y2K bug:
> even
> though COBOL had been "dead" for years, suddenly a bunch of COBOL
> programmers were needed to fix all the code still in production.
>
> If anything, I think Java on Mac OS X will get better. As Steve Jobs said
> in
> response to their decision:
>
> Sun (now Oracle) supplies Java for all other platforms. They have their own
> release schedules, which are almost always different than ours, so the Java
> we ship is always a version behind. This may not be the best way to do it.
>
> Maybe we'll finally have an up-to-date JVM on the Mac now.
>
> -Curtis
>
> On Thu, Oct 21, 2010 at 4:50 PM,
[hidden email] <
>
[hidden email]> wrote:
>
> > Christophe ,
> >
> > Thanks for posting this. I'm an ImageJ developer and for some time been
> > concerned about Apple's apparent lack of commitment to Java (no support
> for
> > iPhone or iPad) and Oracle's acquisition of Sun.
> >
> > Anyone know if there are any for 3rd party JVMs planned for Apple OS-X?
> >
> > Anyone know what Oracle's commitment to Java is?
> >
> > Anyone know about the intentions for ImageJ (or what ever may replace it)
> > should Java go poof in a cloud of roasted coffee bean scented smoke?
> >
> > Anyone know what are the alternatives to Java easy cross platform
> > development?
> >
> > -- Michael Ellis
> >
> >
> >
> > On 21 Oct 2010, at 15:17, Christophe Leterrier wrote:
> >
> > > I just read an article about the notes accompanying today's Java
> > > update for Mac OSX :
> > >
> >
> <a href="http://developer.apple.com/library/mac/#releasenotes/Java/JavaSnowLeopardUpdate3LeopardUpdate8RN/NewandNoteworthy/NewandNoteworthy.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP40010380-CH4-SW1">http://developer.apple.com/library/mac/#releasenotes/Java/JavaSnowLeopardUpdate3LeopardUpdate8RN/NewandNoteworthy/NewandNoteworthy.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP40010380-CH4-SW1
> > >
> > > The first paragraph reads :
> > >
> > > Java Deprecation
> > > As of the release of Java for Mac OS X 10.6 Update 3, the version of
> > > Java that is ported by Apple, and that ships with Mac OS X, is
> > > deprecated.
> > > This means that the Apple-produced runtime will not be maintained at
> > > the same level, and may be removed from future versions of Mac OS X.
> > > The Java runtime shipping in Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard, and Mac OS X
> > > 10.5 Leopard, will continue to be supported and maintained through the
> > > standard support cycles of those products.
> > >
> > > I know this list is more oriented toward ImageJ use, but I'm worrying
> > > about the future of Java (given Oracle's acquisition of Sun and its
> > > attitude towards projects such as Open Office), and specially on the
> > > mac platform, which I use primarily, given the evolution of Apple
> > > attitude (plus they won't allow Java apps in their "App Store" that
> > > will ship with OSX 10.7). As I'm not a Java developer, I just wanted
> > > to forward the info to generate thoughts about that potential problem.
> > >
> > > Christophe
> >
>